Vhails
Vhails Vhails are rarely seen as a cohesive group, and on the rare occasion that they are addressed as such, words like "asylum" and "syndicate" get thrown around instead of more comfortable familial or businesslike terms. The eidolons of shadow are not so much a group as they are a collection of independent beings that hold no affection for the others. Occasional alliances may be formed but only when there is something to be gained, and such deals usually fall apart as soon as it is time for the spoils to be divided. Conflict between vhails is usually violent, with the loser being forced to cede more to the victor than was the original source of the discord. They see their followers as tools or slaves and, while they are quick to reward loyalty and success, failure or treachery are harshly punished. Abbathor (ah bah THOR) The eidolon of darkness and dread, Abbathor wields power over the night and the fear that it brings. He appears as a large, imposing man with long black hair and beard, tanned skin, and dark eyes, usually clad in worn, black robes. When Bilé turned against his selfish nature and abandoned the portfolio of darkness and fear, Abbathor seized his opportunity and took that power for himself. Often portrayed as a "necessary evil," the eidolon of night balances out the light of day and security it provides... the light shines brighter because of the darkness. Because of this, there is little that Abbathor enjoys more than causing discomfort and fear among mortal beings, his greatest pleasure found not in any single act of horror, but in the terror that the threat of the unknown brings with it. Those who follow Abbathor are usually people who have been weak or fearful in their own lives, and embrace the darkness as a way of gaining that same power over their enemies. His symbol is a black disk, and his favored weapon is the dagger. Chemosh (sheh MOSH) The eidolon of nightmares and madness, and patron of the unknowable, Chemosh is a mystery, even to the gods. Born from a fragment of Qord's godspark that fell through the Shadowfell to the depths of the Shadow Maw, whatever Chemosh was before inheriting the god's power is unknown to anyone except Chemosh itself. Now, its appearance is a horrifying aberration, changing and shifting, bizarre and macabre in such a manner that the merest sight of its true form can drive mortals mad. There is little more to be said about the being, as it is unknowable by its very nature. Its followers are creatures of madness or those mired in it, and its worship is always hidden. Chemosh's symbol is a blank disk. Its favored weapon is the dagger. Falazure (FAHL ah zoor) The eidolon of entropy, rot, and decay, Falazure appears as an immense, emaciated dragon with pale green scales, yellowing at the edges. His eyes are cloudy and tired. Flies buzz around him, attracted by the foul stench of rotting flesh that lingers in his presence. He usually speaks slowly and with great effort, as if bearing the weight of chronic illness. His appearance can change rapidly, though, his muscles thickening and his pearly eyes glowing with terrible wrath when angered. It takes a lot to push him to anger, however, as Falazure recognizes that, in time, all things come to him, so he has little ambition to accelerate things to his own purpose. He cannot abide followers of Lendys, however, and if forced to abide the presence of such a creature without killing it outright, Falazure will normally just ignore the creature altogether. His symbol is a desiccated head. His favored weapon is the dart. Firvaal (FEER vahl) The "Father of Fury," Firvaal is the eidolon of bestial rage and animal impulses. In addition to being the master of aggressive beasts and berserkers, he is also the lord of lycanthropy, the honored patron of evil lycanthropes and both the inner turmoil and greatest fear of all who seek to control the curse. Appearing as a feral man with a bestial aspect, Firvaal is the ultimate lycanthrope, able to appear in the form and hybrid form of any hunting or scavenging beast. He is quick to anger, bristling on the outrage even at his most passive. Firvaal's only entertainment is the thrill of the hunt, and he sees all lesser creatures, and most of his peers, as prey. Only those beings that have been proven to wield strength greater than his own are granted even his begrudging respect. His holy symbol is a disk torn with four claw marks, and his favored weapon is the hand axe, usually wielded in pairs, the more jagged and serrated the blade, the better. Garyx (GAH riks) Known as the "Ravaging Beast," Garyx is the eidolon of destruction and slaughter. He is also the patron of dragons that pillage others of their kind and positioned as the antithesis of Astilabor. Dragons also venerate him as the bringer of "the energy within," recognizing Garyx as the source of dragonkind's most devastating weapon: destructive breath. He appears as a huge, muscle-bound blue dragon and proudly teaches by example, wreaking havoc on every world he touches. His followers are evil dragons and all those who revel in destruction and bloodshed. Many who do not revere Garyx question his sanity, though they do so quietly and after taking every possible precaution to avoid being overheard. He pays little attention to his worshipers, who are usually as insane as their patron and could care less what he thinks of them as long as they get to break stuff and have fun doing it. His holy symbol is a draconic eye wreathed in fire. His favored weapon is the flail. Golgarion (gohl GAHR ee AHN) Quite possibly the only creature in the cosmos as revolting in physical appearance as Falazure, Golgarion appears as a disgustingly-obese halfling with a greasy sheen to his hair and pock-marked face. His mouth is usually overflowing with the food that stains his clothing. A murderer and cannibal in his mortal life, he is the eidolon of gluttony, drunkenness, and sloth and could not be less interested in his own physical appearance. Golgarion is the patron of overindulgence in all of its forms, and he couldn't be happier with his role. His worshippers all share in his desire to overindulge, whether in drink, food, or any other vice without moderation. He is also the patron of cannibalism, and has been known to enjoy a fresh halfling or two with his afternoon tea. His holy symbol is a gnawed bone. He claims no favored weapon, as he is far too lazy to bother with such things, but does encourage his followers to always keep a good carving knife on hand. Gruumsh (GROOMSH) "The One-Eyed Conqueror," Gruumsh is the patron of violence and aggression. He appears as a massive orc with heavily-scarred gray-green skin, one eye bloodshot with lust for battle and the other a dark, empty pit beneath a jagged scar. Gruumsh has no love for anything or anyone and enjoys only the thrill of charging into battle with his greataxe in his hand. He respects only physical strength... all other pursuits are weakness. Gruumsh is venerated by berserkers, evil barbarians, and orcs, the latter of who venerate him above all others. The orcs do not consider him an eidolon, but instead venerate him as a full-fledged god, claiming that one day Gruumsh will rise above all other deities and bathe in their divine blood. Among his fellow vhails, Gruumsh vehemently and violently denies any such ambition, though that doesn't stop him from continuing to work his orcs into a violent fervor over the idea of his ascension. His holy symbol is a burning, red eye, and his favored weapon is the greataxe. Lolth (LULTH) Known amongst the Drausidh as "the Spider Queen," Lolth is the eidolon of hatred and envy. She most often appears as an immense black-widow spider with the face of a beautiful Drausidh woman with ebony skin, red eyes, and white hair. On the rare occasion when terrifying her mortal followers is not her intent, she has appeared as a Drausidh woman in a diaphanous, spider-silk gown. Lolth revels in the feelings of fear and loathing associated with her spider form, however, and prefers it. While she is most associated with the Drausidh, who consider her the greatest of all the gods in a similar manner to how Gruumsh is perceived by the orcs, she is also venerated by anyone who is completely given over to hatred, those who cannot let go of a grudge. Lolth despises her followers as much as her enemies, and only bestows gifts upon them when it provides her with more power. She hates everyone, albeit not equally, her hatred driven by avarice and envy... and everyone either has something that she wants or is better than her in some small way (or just perceived as such). Of all creatures, however, she hates Corellan most of all for the veneration bestowed upon him by the other Sidh subraces. Her symbol is a black spider, and her favored weapon is the hand crossbow, usually with poisoned bolts. Nacrol (NAK rohl) The eidolon of treachery and betrayal, Nacrol is difficult to describe as he keeps his appearance hidden from mortal eyes. The method of his disguise changes with his mood, from hoods, masks, or veils to just covering himself in shadow. Even his name is subject to change at his convenience, though his followers tend to fall back on the name officially recognized by his clergy. The only constants with Nacrol are change and lies. Unlike the intermediate goddess Cymber who is often false because of her trickster nature or Leira who seeds misdirection for the purposes of mystery, Nacrol lies with malice and intent do harm, or sometimes just because it amuses him: defamation, slander, misrepresentation, and betrayal are his favorite past times. That is not to say that every word he utters is false... he just weaves lies and truth together so well that it's nearly impossible to tell one from the other. He is venerated by blackmailers, thieves, assassins, and those who trade in lies. His symbol is a dagger wrapped in a serpent, and the dagger is his favored weapon. Phaedra (FAY drah) The daughter of Bilé and a mortal woman, Phaedra became a demigoddess during the Year of Two Suns, when she tried to use her father's godspark and her natural power over flame to overthrow Seane and take his place in the sky. She was defeated through the actions of mortal heroes, but not until she had absorbed enough of Bilé's power to attain minor divinity. As punishment, she was forced into her father's servitude as a lesser power of winter, her power over fire turned to helping with the winter thaw. When her father abandoned the gods of darkness, Phaedra entreated Catira to help her seek vengeance against him and Seane. Unable to resist, Catira used a portion of her godspark, to empower Phaedra and free her from her punishment. Because of Phaedra's destructive intent and powers over fire, the demigoddess was given the portfolio of the eidolon of wildfires and natural disasters. She is vehemently loyal to Catira, who she sees as her liberator. Her worshipers are arsonists and those who find advantage in the suffering of others. Her symbol is the firebrand, and the halberd is her favored weapon. Raask (RASK) During the Third Incursion of Kaos, Raask was the queen-mother of the rudderkin forces serving the fallen angel Az. While she survived the war, hiding safely on the Visiting Isle during the conflict, Catira was impressed by the atrocities that she ordered and oversaw throughout her reign. After she slew Nephys, Catira took the fallen-goddess' godspark and bestowed it to Raask, elevating the rudderkin queen to the status of eidolon of poison and disease. Relishing in her new position as the Mother of Filth, Raask has retained her pitiless nature through her ascension and is infamous in both her pursuit of her domain and her loyalty to Catira. Raask appears as a female rudderkin with a scarred face and graying-brown fur. She wears a furred mantle with ram's horns, giving the appearance that they are her own. She carries a long, gnarled staff covered with mold and slime. Raask attracts followers from the vilest of places, including assassins and poisoners, her rudderkin children, and all manner of creature that lives among society's filth. Her favored weapon is the dagger, and her holy symbol is a rat's skull with an inverted triangle carved into its forehead. Tiamat (TEE a maht) The queen of evil dragons, Tiamat is the eidolon of dark ambition and greed, tyranny and conquest. She is a great beast with a maroon body and five heads, one matching each of her brood, white, black, green, blue, and red, earning her the label "the chromatic dragon." All evil dragons venerate Tiamat, as do all of those who seek personal gain no matter the cost to others. She concerns herself with nothing save spreading evil to expand her own power or deepen her hoard and the propagation of evil, especially evil dragonkind. Tiamat is revered on the islands of Exillon on the continent of Thyrin and is the ultimate antithesis to Bahamut, the only creature across all the planes that she respects... or fears. She despises the remaining draconic eidolons, even those of a similar moral stance, and they all recognize and reciprocate this enmity. Tiamat's holy symbol is the ultimate expression of her arrogance: a representation of her own five heads on a golden disk. Her favored weapon is a flail, usually with five heads. Ullestra (oo LES trah) The eidolon of vanity and obsession, Ullestra usually appears as a young Ancelyn woman of extraordinary beauty with a dangerous air about her. In the last days before the rise of Az, Ullestra was a cleric of Annwn chosen by the now-dead goddess to survive the coming of the Feywyld and taking of the Blackspire Forest. Those sent to save her believed that she was intended as Annwn's "fail safe" in the event of the goddess' death, but the truth was that Ullestra was saved as a punishment for her own vanity and desires. As a mortal, she was falling away from her faith, tempted by lust for a half-fiend cleric of Catira and Ullestra's own belief that her family, the line of the Bloodspeaker, should be subject to worship. Ullestra watched her lover and family destroyed by the taking of the Blackspire Forest, was marked as a deserter and forbidden to take her rightful place upon her mother's throne, and was forced to witness the birth of a new royal family from a bloodline that was not her own. Rather than seeking vengeance, Ullestra simply accepted that she was too good for her own people and set off to find her rightful destiny, each victory along that path carrying her deeper and deeper into her own self-worth. Now, as the patron of the self-obsessed and single-minded, Ullestra is revered by all those who place themselves above all else without regard for the consequences for others. Her symbol is a silvered mirror. Her favored weapon is the scimitar.